It is believed that making planes resemble predators will keep the animals away

Jul 10, 2012 13:04 GMT  ·  By

A new study conducted by researchers working with the US Department of Agriculture argues that collisions between birds and aircraft can be avoided simply by forcing the birds to pay more attention to the planes.

Apparently, this can be achieved either by asking pilots to turn on the aircraft's lights, or by making it resembles the birds' natural predators.

Published just recently in the Journal of Applied Sciences from the British Ecological Society, this experiment focused on how Canadian geese respond to the threats posed by planes flying in their close proximity.

After careful analysis, the specialists came to the conclusion that, because geese see differently than humans do, they only react to aircrafts whose light have been switched on or to planes painted in such a way that they mimic the aspect of birds of prey. Science News reports that Dr. Blackwell, one of the researchers involved in conducting this study, explained how, “Because Canada geese will respond to aircraft approach as a potential threat, the theory behind how animals respond to predators is very applicable to understanding the response to aircraft approach, and we can enhance this response via lighting.”

Although wildlife preservation and safeguarding was indeed one of the reason why these experiments were carried out, the main focus was on coming up with ways to minimize the threats to civil and military aviation.

Thus, having birds collide with airplanes definitely kills the animals, but the aircrafts and the people aboard them can also be severely affected.

The same source informs us that, back in 2009, a US Airways flight had no choice but to make an emergency landing due to the fact that several birds got caught up in its engines.

It is our opinion that working towards cutting down on the number of such incidents is a welcomed endeavor, seeing how both wild animals and humans end up being kept out of harm's way.